Adam Yates takes runner-up spot at the Muscat Classic in Oman

Picking up his first podium finish of the season, Adam Yates raced to second place at the Muscat Classic in Oman. The result marks a promising start to life in the Middle East for Yates, who will head into the Tour of Oman as the two-time defending champion.

Raced a day ahead of the Tour of Oman, the Muscat Classic challenged the peloton with a hilly parcours that looked perfect for attacking racing. Never one to shirk an opportunity to go on the offensive, Yates animated the final 10km of the day.

Once his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali had closed down an earlier move from Jayco AlUla, Yates seized his chance to attack on the Climb of Al Jissah (1.1km at 9.3%).

Immediately, Yates’ back wheel was tracked by Mauro Schmid and Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla, with the trio soon emerging as the three strongest riders in the field. With only 5km left to the finish in Al Bustan, it was two Jayco AlUla riders vs the lone UAE Team Emirates-XRG figure of Yates.

Try as he might, the 33-year-old could not shake Plapp nor Schmid from his wheel, though he did have the latter briefly on the ropes. Instead, it was Plapp who used his racing craft to open a brief gap with 2km to go. The Australian was well aware that he and Schmid had the numbers advantage over Yates.

Not to be denied a chance to sprint for the win, however, Yates closed down this attack and headed into the final 500m alongside the Jayco AlUla pair.

Inside 200m to go, Yates was the first to open up his sprint, but it was always going to be a tall order against the muscly figure of Schmid. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG man was forced to settle for second, as the Swiss National Champion took the day’s victory.

Plapp, meanwhile, rolled across the line in third, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Rui Oliveira finished strong to take seventh.

The Tour of Oman will begin for the peloton on Saturday, and Yates will head into that race full of confidence from his impressive performance.

Yates: “It was a good fight there in the final with the two guys from Jayco there, it was always going to be tricky to win, but I think with second place we can be happy. We can be happy to start the week like this and now onto the Tour of Oman. Off the bike, we are all friends, and it’s good to fight in the final there with some guys you know.

“I went quite fast on the climb, maybe a little bit too early, but it’s not a super long climb so I needed to make the difference somewhere. I tried from the bottom basically and those two guys managed to hang on, so it was a good fight in the finish, and then in the sprint, I’m never going to be the fastest there.

“It was a good day. I think in general it is a hard race. Obviously, at the beginning it is quite easy, on the big roads, but when we get to the circuit here, it’s lumpy, it’s twisty, it’s grippy roads. So it catches up quickly and I think you see there in the final, there was a lot of guys without legs and we could make the difference there. I think it’s good signs for next week and hopefully [the Tour of Oman] will be good.

“Tomorrow, it is a sprint day so hopefully a ‘rest day’ for us guys, and staying out of trouble! We have Molano here, he did a good job today to do some lead-outs and positioning, so hopefully tomorrow he is fresh and ready to go.”

Muscat Classic 2026 results:

1. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) 4:14:36

2. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

3. Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) +4″

7. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +15″